We Have Now Entered the Teenage Zone

Tyler got TWO celebrations for his birthday this year, and I guess your 13th is a good one for that. On his actual birthday, our family traveled to meet my husband's family for a few days of lake fun. Tyler's grandpa rented a boat and they spent the morning fishing (which is his favorite outdoor activity). 

When we returned home, Tyler and a couple of his friends went and played laser tag and then came back to the house for pizza and a 2nd birthday cake. I think he would say his 13th birthday was very special and memorable. 

I'm still not recognizing this birthday. He can't possibly be a teenager. Perhaps that's why I'm posting about his 13th birthday 21 days after it happened.

I love this boy - I mean young man.

Lauren's Fashion Birthday Party

 My baby turned 9 on Sunday, March 30th. We had a fashion-themed birthday party for her on Saturday, the 29th. We sent out simple invitations I created over at PicMonkey using their "design" feature. We found adorable plates, cups and napkins at the Dollar Tree, and I was completely surprised at the wide selection my local store had.

We set up a photo booth and used all the same props we used at our homeschool co-op's valentine party. Here's a sweet pic of the birthday girl and her dad.

We took pictures of the girls as a group and then gave them an opportunity to pair up any way they chose or individually. While I got the girls started on their craft, my sister-in-law used my laptop to send the pictures to be developed at a nearby CVS so they could be picked up before the end of the party. So when each girl went home they took their decoupaged frame and 2-3 photos home with them as a party favor. We purchased wooden frames at Michaels for $1 each and a pack of animal print scrap booking paper and let the girls use mod podge to decoupage their frames with foam paint brushes.

Once the frames were done, I divided the girls up into two teams and chose a model for each team. Each team was given tape, tissue and toilet paper and asked to design and create a dress and put it on their model. Once the girls were done, their model walked the "runway" and was judged for best design. Both teams were incredibly creative and all the girls seemed to really enjoy this activity.

The two models wearing their beautiful fashions. 

Lauren asked for plain glazed donuts instead of birthday cake again this year. So, we stacked them up on a pretty cake plate, stuck in some candles and she was pretty stinkin' happy. The refreshments were very simple. We had a bowl of M&M candies, donuts, pretzels and punch.

Since our parsonage is quite small, we were very blessed to be able to reserve and use an area of our church called "Children's World" for the party. It worked perfectly for all we wanted to do.

2014 is the year of friend birthday parties (we do them every other year) and I would say we got off to a fun start with Lauren's party. Tyler's birthday is in August and Kaitlyn's birthday is in November. So I have some time to recoup and plan the parties they want to have.

Valentine and Birthday Parties

On Tuesday, February 11th, we had a valentine party at our homeschool co-op. The younger children exchanged valentines, we had snacks, and a fun photo booth, which was a big hit and a lot of fun! 

On Friday, we got to attend a cousin's 10th birthday party. This was only the second time we have been to one of her parties since we've always lived so far away. The party was on Friday, and as a result, Heath got to go with us since we could make our travel day on Saturday to ensure he was back in time to preach Sunday morning.

The party was Paris themed since the birthday girl loves all things fashion. The girls designed and made dresses out of tissue paper and then walked the runway for all the family members in attendance to enjoy a fashion show.

All the cousins together. 

The boys were just there to drink punch and eat cake pops. They didn't want anything to do with the fashion party.

Spring Break

We planned our spring break around the Easter holiday. I scheduled for us to have Friday through Monday off and we had big plans to rest, play, decorate eggs, celebrate Lauren's birthday, worship our risen Savior, and enjoy a nice meal Sunday evening with some friends. If you take a peek at the pictures below it looks like our spring break was "picture perfect" but it wasn't. Instead it was filled with sickness (strep, stomach bugs, and even a mystery rash). However, we were able to squeeze some special moments in our days and make some memories. I can say without a doubt that this spring break will probably never be forgotten.  

Kaitlyn reminded me we hadn't decorated eggs since we lived in Missouri. So we made some preparations and had fun decorating on Friday afternoon once Lauren woke up from a good nap after not feeling well all morning.

On Saturday we celebrated Lauren's birthday. Well, everyone celebrated except for Dad because he was so sick he didn't even attempt getting out of bed to watch his sweet girl blow out her candle.

The Lord and I had pretty much a constant dialogue going throughout our entire spring break. I said, "Lord, this is not the spring break I had envisioned." Then He would bring Scriptures to my mind like "He (Christ) must become greater and greater, and I must become less and less" (John 3:30, NLT). This life really isn't about me and my wants, it's about loving and serving Christ and others. And what a week (Holy Week) to be reminded of that Truth as I loved, served, and cared for my sick and precious family.